Chapter 4 Terrible Accusations

Chris's House

Isabella couldn't believe her ears. Chris dead? Her first thoughts were that she had to get to Zak. As she was about to leave, the door opened.

"Isabella, if you tell anyone about what happened last night, the consequences will be quite deadly. Your son, sisters, and brothers will be killed. Do you understand me?" asks Tina the blonde woman from last night.

"Ah... Yes. Do you know what happened to Chris?" Isabella asks.

"No", says the blonde woman.

"I need to get to my son", Isabella says.

"Here's my card. If you need anything, please don't hesitant to call me", Tina hands Isabella her business card.

The business card says, "Tina Wilson, Executive Account Manager, Zomba Records, London etc..."

"And please remember, not everything is at it appears", Tina says as she leaves Isabella.

Luckily, for Isabella her car was in the driveway of Chris's house. Isabella gets into her car and wonders about the weird Chris and even more strange cryptic message. As Isabella goes to Zak's school, she passes by the accident scene. She sees a body bag and wonders if Chris's inside the bag.

Zak's School

Isabella arrives at Zak's school and runs into the school.

"Zak, there's something I need to tell you. Your father has been in a horrible accident." Isabella grabs Zak and hugs him as she tells him this news.

"Mom, are we going to go to the hospital to see Dad? Is he alright?"

"We'll go to the hospital. I don't know about Dad", Isabella says as they get ready to leave the school.

Two French police officers are waiting outside for Isabella.

"Excuse us, Madame. Are you Mrs. Chris Smith?" asks the officer.

"Yes", Isabella says.

"We'd like to talk to you alone, if we may?"

"Sure. Zak why don't you wait in the car for me?" Zak goes to Isabella's car.

"Your husband was in a terrible accident this morning. The man driving the car didn't survive. Can you please come to the hospital and identify some of the personal remains?"

"Sure." Isabella says as she thinks of the joke that fate has pulled on her once again. She's lost both her parents and her husband to car accidents.

Isabella gets into the car. How is she going to tell Zak that his Dad is dead? Her pain is twofold - her pain for herself and her pain for Zak.
Zak notices that his Mom is shaking and tears are rolling down her face.

"Is Dad okay?" Zak asks.

"I don't know", Isabella says. She very carefully leaves the school and heads to the hospital. When Isabella arrives, the policeman directs Isabella to a private lounge. Zak stays outside with one of the officers.

Paris, France Hospital

"Mrs. Smith, we found this gold band on the man's finger. Is it your husband's?"

The man hands Isabella a gold band. There is an inscription on it that says "Izzy & Chris, 4ever Dec 31 1993". There is also a watch and keys.

"Oh my God, everything belongs to Chris. May I keep his wedding band? May I see him?" Isabella says.

"I'm sorry, but we can't release his personal defects. There was a fire and its best if you don't see the body." The officer tells her.

"We will try to use dental records to reach a positive identification, but due to the condition of the body it may take a couple of days. Also, we have witnesses that report your husband getting into the BMW SUV at the school. All the evidence that we have indicates that your husband is dead."

Isabella is in total shock. At the same time, her cell phone begins ringing. It's the boss of the studio – Isabella decides not to pick it up. Her cell phone begins to constantly ring and she shuts it off.

"Can you please bring my son in here? I have to tell him about his Dad." The officer brings Zak in and leaves Isabella alone with him. Isabella goes to Zak and embraces him.

"Little love, this is the hardest thing that I've ever had to say. I'm sorry, your dad didn't make it."

"No, my Dad isn't dead!" Zak screams at her.

"Zak , I know how you feel and you're in denial. I lost both my parents at the same time."

"No, you don't know how I feel! It's your entire fault that Dad has left us! Dad wouldn't cheat on you and you should have realized it! I hate you, I wish you were dead!!" Zak screams at her.

"I think we should go home now," Isabella says. Zak couldn't have said anything that would have devastated her more than those words.

"I want to go to Dad's house. I want to be with Suzy and not you!" Zak says.

"We'll go to Dad's house and get your clothes, but you're coming home with me. I'm your mother, not Suzy!" Isabella shouts at him.

Chris's House

Isabella and Zak go to Chris's house and she orders him upstairs to get his clothes. Isabella runs into Suzy.

"Isabella, I'm so very, very sorry about Chris", Suzy says.

"Did you screw my husband? I'm in no mood for games and I want the truth!" Isabella yells at her.

"Well, since Chris is dead, I guess it no longer matters. I promised Chris that I wouldn't tell you the truth. I swear to you on Annie's life that I never had sex with Chris", Suzy says to her.

"Why did Chris want me to think that you and he had sex? Why did you lie?"

"I have no idea. Johnny and I were already in the process of getting a divorce. In my past, I was a stripper and I was a drug addict. I was terrified that Johnny would find out about it and I'd lose custody of Suzie. Chris found out about this and told me he wouldn't say a word and he'd make sure Johnny never found out about it. So, I agreed to lie to you. I'm so sorry"

"Moving into the house was Chris's idea, too. He told me he'd let me know when it was fine for me to move out. Suzie and I will be out of here this afternoon."

Zak comes running down the stairs and runs straight to Suzy for comfort. Isabella is furious.

"Zak, I'm so sorry about your Dad"

"I want to stay here with you and Suzie"

"Honey, you've got to go with your Mom. She'll need your strength to get through this"

"No, she doesn't. She hates my dad and she's happy that he left us!"

"Zak, I don't hate your dad and I'm not happy that he's gone. That's a terrible thing for you to say to me!" Isabella says to him.

"Zak, Annie and I are moving out into an apartment this afternoon. So, you can't stay here with us. You belong with your mom".

Isabella's House

After getting Suzy's help, Isabella finally gets Zak to go home with her. Isabella calls Jean and explains to her what is happening. Of course, she doesn't mention what had happened last night. Jean thinks that Zak will get over it. Jean tells Isabella that she'll grab the first flight to Paris. She also senses that her sister is barely hanging on by a thread.

People keep calling and coming over to Isabella's house to give their condolences. The paparazzi are stationed outside of her door.

Later that night, Isabella goes up to visit Zak.

"Even though your dad hurt me, I still love him. He was the love of my life"

"Mom, why can't you understand that Dad's not dead?"

"Zak, why do you think that your Dad's not dead?"

"Because I can feel in my heart that he's still alive. He's in awful pain because he left you and me, but he's alive. Can't you feel it in your heart, too?" Zak asks her.

"I don't know Zak. My heart has been broken for so long, all I feel is pain". Isabella tells him. Isabella tucks him in and leaves his room.

Isabella begins to think about the strong connection that Chris and Zak had. Sometimes they could feel what the other one was feeling. Sometimes she was jealous of this strong connection that they had with each other. She often wondered if Zak's connection with Chris was stronger than her connection with Chris.

Isabella thinks about last night's events and then today's events. Were they connected? What happened last night? She decides to call Chris's friend Tina.

"Hello, this is Tina"

"Tina, this is Chris's wife. I'd like to ask you a few questions."

"Sure, shoot"

"What happened last night?"

"That's Chris's truth to tell you".

"I thought you said that you would answer my questions? How can a dead man answer my questions?"

"Yes, I'll answer your questions. However, I won't betray the man that saved my parents' lives and I never said that Chris was dead."

"Zak thinks his dad is alive. Is Chris alive?" By this point, Isabella is getting really frustrated.

"I didn't say Chris was alive either"

"Will you find him for us?" Isabella asks holding her breath. At this point, she'd like to reach out and touch Tina!

"Yes."

"How much money do you want to find him?"

"You can pay the basic expenses," Tina tells her.

"Come on, you can't do this for free."

"No, I won't. I happen to be a fan of yours and Chris's. So if Chris's alive and I find him, I expect you two to make beautiful movies together again."

"Agreed", says Isabella.

"Can you please check your financial records and let me know if Chris's withdrawn any large sums of money in the last 7 months? Also, I'm going to look in Chris's house and see if I can find anything. Will you take a look, too?"

"Sure, I'll do both of those things."

"Also, ask Zak if Chris has said anything strange to him in the last few months. Don't say a word about your suspicions to anyone"

"Please let me know if there's anything else I can help you with", Isabella says as she hangs up the phone.

Isabella decides to get ready to go to bed. As she lays down, she begins to think about things.

Why would Chris want me to think he's having an affair? What in the world happened last night? Chris was like James Bond with all those moves! Why would he intentionally leave Zak and me? He'd never hurt us like that?

As Isabella drifts off to sleep, her last thought is that if Chris intentionally made her life a living hell for the last 7 months, she was going to make him pay for it!